Garage doors of various sizes and designs operate in many buildings. The vast majority of these doors have some form of counter balance system to reduce the energy required to raise and lower the doors. For example, a spring counter balance system utilizes springs that are designed to operate for a standard number of elongation and contraction cycles. The number of cycles is a function of the design of the components, such as wire size and physical dimensions. In addition to the counter balance mechanism, the doors have motor powered operators or hoists that, through a mechanical connection to the door, open and close the door.
The opening and closing of the door generate wear and stress on all components of the door. Wear and stress occur during periods of use and during periods of inactivity. The springs of the counter balance system have service lives that are directly related to the number of times they have been repetitively elongated and contracted. This type of information is available to the public from the manufacturers of the spring.
After many repeated cycles of elongation and contraction, strain causes the material of the springs to fatigue and eventually fail. Upon failure, the springs break causing the ends or broken pieces to propel at substantial force in all directions. A release of energy in this manner causes damage to the door and the surroundings and can cause severe injury and fatalities.
Preventive maintenance, inspection and service of the counter balance system are crucial to the safe and reliable operation of the door.
In the past, service of the springs in the counter balance system has been scheduled based on time, i.e. the amount of time the system has been in place. However, this procedure provides service only to a small number of doors, does not take into account the cycle failure information available from the manufacturers of the springs, and cannot predict failure of the springs.
It is the object of the present invention to provide for maintenance of an overhead door system based on the number of full cycles of the springs.
It is another object of the present invention to count the number of full cycles of the springs in order to schedule planned maintenance of the overhead door system.
It is another object of the present invention to inform inspectors as to the number of full cycles the springs have gone through.
It is another object of the present invention to inform inspectors as to the specifications of the spring system.
It is another object of the present invention to inform the inspectors as to who to contact if the overhead door system is not functioning properly.
It is another object of the present invention to prevent catastrophic damage to people and property.
Objects and advantages of the present invention are set forth in part herein and part will be obvious here from, or may be learned in practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.
The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations, steps and improvements herein shown and described.